Summer, At Last!

Here at John's Island Headquarters, summer has finally arrived, officially at least, with the summer solstice. 

People have been talking about summer for so long now that it seems almost anti-climatic. Most think of summer starting right after Memorial Day, and by their measure, we're already nearly a month into the great season where the "livin' is easy."  Our executive staff here has gone fishin', well sorta, as illustrated in the card, published by S. Porter, Chicago, in 1906.

Perhaps you've wondered where we've been. We are taking a break from our fast-paced publishing and enjoying some relaxing activities for a while. Hope you are doing the same.

We're especially looking forward to our Sweet Pea Festival, which will occur here on the Island when the peas bloom!  (Progress photos below.)

Seeds planted in early March, here is how they looked in mid-April ....

And then, a few days ago, in the pots with the checks ....

We are quite amazed with mother nature's work. No, none of us here have taken the time to spool those little tendrils around the netting as the peas grow. It's all done automatically.

We are not sure when our Sweet Pea Festival will occur, but when it does, we will post some pictures for you. They are beautiful, but the fragrance is even better.

Now, for those of you who like the vintage card, Porter produced one for each of the seasons and they are fairly rare now. We put them on the wish list and finally found all four.  If you are like us, you will want to see the other three right **NOW** and so, here they are, and we will feature each one in a larger format as we get to that point on the calendar.

Even though these cards were published 105 years ago, the sentiment, at least, shows that some things haven't changed.  Until our next post, we wish you all a fine summer. We always appreciate your comments and thank you for following.